Much Ado About Vampires
by Secret Nerd Princess
Summary: Set in an alternate version of America where the vampires and the fae have joined together to run the country, Sookie Stackhouse is sent by her great-grandfather Niall to infiltrate the Fae Court. Along the way she meets Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area Five, who is frustrating, high-handed, and gorgeous. Can two societies be changed by an ex-waitress turned fairy princess?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome to Much Ado About Vampires! First, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Meridian, Kittyinaz, and RealJena for their help in developing this story. Without them, I'd be lost. Not to mention my sister, whose beta skills are beyond the pale.

You should know that this story is based off the Shakespeare play _Much Ado About Nothing._ WAIT! Don't run away! You don't have to know that story to enjoy this one. Yes, it'll add a layer if you do, but it will be accessible to those who have no interest in Shakespeare. I promise.

I would like to note that there is darkness in this story; the world it takes place in is a frakked up place. That being said, everything will be resolved in the end, trust me. I'm not going to leave these characters in this unbalanced misogynistic world.

Warning: This fic will contain exactly one non-violent, non-graphic rape, and readers will be warned in plenty of time to avoid that section. There is second situation that also will not be comfortable for all readers. I will absolutely forewarn in both these circumstances. Please know that they are necessary to tell this story since they are included in the original text. I understand if you choose to avoid these situations and skip a chapter, I will do my best to make sure you understand what happened without providing any detail that might be triggering to some readers.

That being said, this story will have a lot of fun and light. It's based off of _Much Ado_ , which for the most part, is a comedy.

I've chosen to ignore much of Sookie canon here, but the characters are all from the Sookieverse. One of my original characters from _Dead on Arrival_ might make an appearance, though that's not set in stone. Otherwise, enjoy!

Full Summary: Set in an alternate version of America where the vampires and the fae have joined together to run the country, Sookie Stackhouse is sent on an undercover mission by her great-grandfather Niall to infiltrate the Fae Court based in Bon Temps, LA. Sookie walks a dangerous path with only her wits and her heart to guide her. Along the way she meets Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area Five, who is also frustrating, high-handed, and gorgeous. Can two societies so at odds with the modern day be changed by an ex-waitress turned fairy princess?

* * *

 _April 23_ _rd_ _, 2012_

Sookie prepared for the evening as quietly as possible. She needed some excitement, but she didn't want the usual protection detail that normally came with her excursions. Her uncle, Desmond, never stopped her from meeting with her old friends, or anything like that, but certain expectations accompanied learning and accepting her status as royalty. When her great-grandfather Niall approached her, revealing her ancestry, she'd immediately rebelled. She couldn't believe that her grandmother had hidden something so vital about her life from her.

Unfortunately, Adele had passed earlier in the year so Sookie couldn't even ask her for the truth. 2007 was a shit year if she'd ever lived one. Her grandmother passed on, the Great Supernatural Divide happened, and then some weird Prince of the Fae showed up in her backyard enlightening her to her status as a Princess of the Fae Court. She never wanted to be anything more than who she was: Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress and all around decent human being.

But the more Niall told her about the court, the more she felt a duty to change things for the better. Oh, she worried at first that Niall had the wrong girl for the job. He'd said he would've left her alone, never revealing her existence to the Fae at large, but he'd worried that the policies of both the Fae and Vampire courts would lead to their eventual extinction. Both of their races needed to evolve if they were to survive. Yes, the fae and vampires were adept at leading, their political skills developed over thousands of years, but some of the beliefs they held…let's just say they were better left in the 17th century.

Even after an impassioned speech beseeching her for help, Sookie still said no. Then Niall used his ace in the hole: her cousin, Diantha. Diantha, whom she had never met, was a couple years younger than Sookie, who had only just turned twenty-one at the time. Sookie owed her no loyalty, she'd thought to herself. But when Niall told her about the gender disparities and the hypocrisy of the Courts, she felt compelled to act.

Why? It's not like she didn't still have family: her brother Jason, deputy of the local police department, and Hadley, a cousin who'd had her fair share of troubles in her life. So why did she feel such a pull to Diantha, this demon cousin she'd never met?

Demons, huh. She'd been shocked at that revelation. Niall had explained though that they weren't demons in the Christian sense of the word, but actually the Dark Fae. The fae had long ago ceased to see any distinction between the two, though originally they'd been much farther apart in regards to their traits. Where the Light Fae enjoyed sunlight and joy, the Dark Fae had originally been pranksters, reveling in anarchy and creating chaos wherever they went. But that was centuries ago Niall had explained. They'd interbred for so long that it was only the physical traits that remained of a once stark distinction: the Light Fae looked very much like Sookie, blond hair, blue eyes; where the Dark Fae inherited dark features with darker hair and eye color.

More worrisome was the vampires and faes' treatment of women. The more Niall revealed, the more Sookie felt the need to do something. Apparently the longer the women of both courts were denied their freedom, the closer both races crept to oblivion. Every race that walked the Earth, as well as the realms that existed alongside it, craved the freedom that was written into their very DNA. When one gender of any race was denied this freedom, they withered away. The Fae found themselves unable to bear children, and the female vampires who are turned very seldom survived past their first decade.

You'd think that the Prince of all Fae could've done something about this, but he explained that he couldn't spend much time out of the realm of Fairy; apparently, the Earth dimension was hard on the constitutions of the older of the full-blooded Fae. Not to mention, real change needed to be enacted from the inside. He could issue all royal edicts he wanted, but after centuries of the ingrained belief of the inferiority of women, they were just words on paper. He risked an overthrow of his government if he had no way to enforce those edicts.

He had considered doing it anyway, when he remembered his quarter-fae great-granddaughter. He observed her for months from a mirrored portal that allowed him to watch her from the safety of Fairy. The more he learned about her, the more he believed she was the one who could ignite the change that both species needed. He gave her a choice: she could stay as she was, living her life in her grandmother's old house, never stepping foot inside the Court—he wouldn't force her—or she could become the essential spark he needed. She almost said no. It would've been easy to deny his request, she had no desire to accept her royal lineage, but then she remembered Diantha and the life she was forced to live.

She accepted. It meant she'd have to play along with the rules of the Court as they stood now, but at least her uncle Desmond was known to be among the more lenient of the Fae. Slowly, but surely, Niall assured her, she would be able to evoke change. It wouldn't really get going until she came into her powers though, he warned her.

"What powers?" She asked with trepidation.

Her ethereal great-grandfather just smiled. "Oh, you'll know when you get them."

"And what if I don't?" She pursued her line of questioning. "I'm not even half fae, let alone full fae, how do you know those powers are even in me?"

"I just do," Niall stated.

"What? Do you have some kind of fancy Fairy crystal ball that reveals all to you?" She poked, assuming a phony psychic voice.

Niall winked. "Something like that." He paused and studied her. "So will you say yes? Will you help me to change the minds of two races?"

She agreed, of course she had. But it was nights like this, when she just wanted to do something on her own, that she felt the frustration of the five years she'd been at Court with nary a sign of the change he talked about. Although Desmond allowed her more freedom than most, on account of the fact she grew up among humans, if she were found to be a wanton woman, she could be put to death.

So, she snuck away to remind herself what freedom felt like. Not often enough to attract unwanted attention, but enough that she didn't feel completely trapped. She might be equipped with lady parts, but why should men get to have all the fun? The night wouldn't bring anything untoward, she just needed to be with her friends, the people who'd known her and spent their lives by her side.

Sookie wouldn't even have chanced it except the men were leaving for the war against the Moshup Clan in a few days. The party would be amazing whether she was supposed to be there or not. Gone was her life as crazy Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress at Merlotte's, but it didn't mean she wouldn't reach out and retrieve that woman when she felt the need. The Great Supernatural Divide altered more than the fabric of the country she'd grown up in, the life she lived before everything changed, it also meant that humans knew about and accepted, after the initial backlash, the supernatural races that lived among them.

In the five years since the United States had been divided up amongst the Supernatural communities, there had been skirmishes of varying sizes. In 2009, Georgia attacked Alabama in an effort to gain more territory for Moshup, but the southern forces of the Amun Clan joined with them to force the Georgian forces to retreat. After that, Ohio tried to make the push into Pennsylvania, but Maryland infiltrated from behind and instead gained the cities of Cinncinati and Columbus. Nobody messed with Texas.

This was different; all the states geared up to fight down the dividing line from Pennsylvania to Florida, between Moshup and Amun. If Zeus attacked from the west, Amun Clan was toast, but thus far the alliance held.

Human society changed very little in regards to their everyday lives with the Divide. They still held the same jobs, possessed the same rights, ate the same food, and enjoyed the same pastimes. The only difference involved elections. The vampires wanted to do away with voting altogether, the citizens of America didn't have a very good track record, but the Fae community made the case that Americans were accustomed to a certain amount of freedoms. They retained the right to vote on the Sheriffs of their states, but never governmental expenditure or the election of the ruling class. The Kings and Queens were chosen from within their respected supernatural communities.

Each state consisted of a Vampire and a Fae Court; the two working in tandem to bring about a peace the country sorely lacked at the turn of the century. In 2005, the four main Vampire Clans, Moshup, Amun, Zeus, and Narayana—only the Alaskan and Hawaiian delegations abstained—along with the Fae representatives, held a summit to brainstorm suggestions to save the US from economic collapse. Having immortality enabled the vampires and the fae to consolidate money and allies that the US seemed unable to acquire on its own; the government too invested in ruling the world to concentrate on its citizens.

But, in general, the supernatural races left the humans to their own devices. Because the infrastructure of the country stabilized with the new form of leadership, the humans didn't revolt. They still had five hundred channels of reality television and football on Sundays; they were appeased. If they knew about the discrepancies in the Fae and Vampire Courts in regards to the way women were treated, they didn't care. Maybe some of them did, but it was unlikely they'd get close enough to either of the courts to change anything. No, that privilege rested squarely on her shoulders.

Her uncle, Desmond, was King of the Fae Court of Amun. Since the change Niall spoke of so long ago was slow in coming, Sookie worried that she would eventually be forced to marry. Would she be able to stop it if Desmond began negotiations? Being part of the Fae Court meant that she and Diantha, as Desmond's dependents, would be obliged to marry a vampire of his choosing. What mattered, if you were royalty of either court, purity—excuse me—a woman's purity. Fae and vampire men were given free rein before they settled down.

Marriage required faithfulness, on both sides, as long as it remained valid. Royals married for a hundred years at a time and no exception existed for the unfaithful. Once two parties agreed, whether verbally or written, the contract became active. Failure to remain monogamous resulted in the offending party's death, and the offended party's immediate disgrace.

She was determined never to marry. What vampire could she possibly imagining spending even twenty years with, let alone one hundred? Her sharp tongue had gotten her into trouble on a number of occasions already. She'd once so offended Felipe de Castro, Vampire King of Nevada, that her uncle had been obliged to pay him a monthly tithe for a year to avert a full on war with the Zeus clan.

 _Whoopsie!_

She'd learned her lesson when Desmond refused to let her step foot out of her room until she read the entire _Royal Constitution of the Fae States_. Talk about boring. At least it gave her a better idea of what she was up against. Antiquated psychos. And didn't she have a conversation with Niall about that?

She remembered the very awkward verbal fight with him. It had been mid-afternoon on the third day of her interminable reading of that stupid text when she came across the Death Clause. The clause in the Fae Constitution that stated if a woman wasn't a virgin, she must be put to death. DEATH! In the 21st century. Seriously! She'd started calling out for Niall.

"Niall! Niall Brigant you get your fairy ass down here immediately. And don't you dare ignore me! I know you're watching me through that mirror, so you know I'm calling you. I swear by all that's holy, I will walk out of this room if you don't appear in front of me in 3…2…1. Alright. That's it. I'm outta—"

Niall popped into her suite. "Great-grandaughter. How nice to hear from you. What can I do for you on this fine summer's day?"

"Oh don't you start with that charm of yours, Mister. Great-grandfather or not, you owe me an explanation." Sookie was fuming.

"An explanation for what?" He asked, a mask of innocence on his unlined face.

"For what? For what he asks!" Sookie stormed over to the window where she'd thrown the book after reading about the Death Clause. She picked it up, opening to the correct page—she'd marked it all up in her anger—and shoved it in his face. "This! This clause right here that says a woman must be put to death if she isn't a virgin. What kinda horseshit is this? You'd better zap me out of this room immediately."

"Why is that, darling Sookie?"

"Darling Sookie. Darling Sookie! Because I don't have a hymen, that's why! It broke when I fell onto the bar of Jason's bike that I borrowed one day. I was down on the ground, bleeding and worried that I was dying. And if I didn't die then, I most certainly won't die now for some unnecessary piece of skin. Just because that part of me is gone doesn't mean that I am impure. Not to mention, what a ridiculously hypocritical piece of hogwash. The men get to get their jollies on, but us women? Oh no, we've gotta be pure for our husbands. Fuck. That. Shit. Get me out of here right the hell now."

"Sookie, Sookie," he placed his smooth hand on her arm. "First of all, calm down."

She'd about had it with him. "Calm down? Do you know how they put women to death for not being virgins?" She didn't wait for his response, she knew that he knew the law, but kept going with her rant anyway, she was on a roll. "Stoning, the men first of course, and then the women and children. Everybody has to come out for the stoning, like we're living in some bassackwards first century Roman city-state. Well, I'm not getting stoned to death. Not in this lifetime, anyway."

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed out an exasperated breath.

"Are you finished?" Her great-grandfather asked without a hint of worry. She nodded angrily. "Okay then, first, I'm well aware you are still pure," he stopped her before she could ask how. "Scent, child. Like vampires, the fae have a heightened sense of smell. You've nothing to worry about. No one will be putting you to death. Secondly, do you not think this is part of why I wanted you here? That I'm not aware of how antiquated, and how did you put it— bassackwards this law is? I'm well aware. I would not have put you in this situation if I thought for one millisecond you'd be put to death."

She sat down roughly on her bed. "Well, don't think this isn't the first thing I'm changing when I get the chance."

"I would not have expected otherwise. Who do you think suggested your punishment be to read that book?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Now, was there anything else you needed, Darling Sookie?"

She shook her head no and wrapped her arms around him. "This is so fucked up. You know that right?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I do."

She released him, and he popped back into his own realm leaving Sookie feeling alone and terrified. It had been the first time she truly realized how messed up things were in the supernatural community.

She'd gotten good at pretending to be the dutiful, obedient niece when that personality was called for. At least Desmond didn't insist on her playing the role with the vampires and fae from Louisiana. She'd have been put to death for her sassy mouth a dozen times over if that were the case. He probably knew that she snuck out alone on occasion to meet up with Jason, Tara, and Sam, but there was only so much leeway he could allow. Her uncle loved her, immensely, but that didn't mean she should really push her luck too much. The rules of the society were too ingrained in him despite the fact that he was certainly far more lenient than another ruler might have been.

So she gave in to her need to escape only when it got to be too much to take; when she needed to see Jason, Tara, and Sam; when she needed to remember what it was like to live a life devoid of any Fairy politics, one where she went where she wanted, when she wanted.

But she had an agreement with Niall, and a belief that she was doing the right thing. It didn't change the fact that was she was stuck in The Royal Court of Fae, but at least she was still in Bon Temps; the Court needed proximity to the fae portal located there. The Vampire Court, on the other hand, situated itself in New Orleans, in close proximity to the night life the city provided. It worked out nicely; the Fae covered the top corner of the state, and the vampires the bottom.

Sookie checked her outfit: dark skinny jeans, pink satin camisole, and matching ballet slippers. Her blond hair hung loose over her shoulders and she applied a light coat of pink lip-gloss. Satisfied with her appearance, she slipped out on the balcony of her suite and shimmied down the tree, scrambling across the lawn. How she really wished she'd come into all her fae powers, teleportation would come in super handy right now. Luckily, the guards worried about sneaking in, not sneaking out.

She made her way to her 1981 Honda Civic. She'd never sold it as she promised her uncle she would, he thought it was a death trap. But she didn't want to drive around some top-of-the-line brand new BMW or Cadillac the fae kept on premises. She liked her old car, so she kept it. Anytime she needed it, it waited for her, hidden down an unused dirt road. Sliding in behind the wheel, she retrieved her keys from beneath the seat and started up the old reliable vehicle. She checked her watch; the regular patrol would be on the other side of town. Her path was clear all the way to Shreveport and Fangtasia.

She pulled into the parking lot forty-five minutes or so later. She saw Sam's old Chevy truck parked next to Jason's ridiculous purple monstrosity. Tara would have caught a ride with one of the guys, so she knew all three of them were already inside.

The bar carried off vampire kitsch well. Not as many vamps hung out there since the action was in the lower half of the state, but every state needed outposts throughout. Shreveport, and Fangtasia, was just such an outpost. Owned by Sheriff Eric Northman, she saw a picture of him once and felt inexplicably drawn to him, but he rarely made an appearance in Fangtasia, so it was unlikely they'd meet tonight. He instead chose to run his city from his penthouse in downtown. After the Divide, many human companies switched their interests to manufacturing vampire friendly products like the UV blocking glass, which allowed the vamps a lot more leeway in their choice of houses and offices.

Fangtasia was a throwback to the time before humanity knew about the supernatural communities and Sookie loved it for some odd reason: the red vinyl booths, the black chrome bar, the brass accents and the overly loud music. She even loved the ridiculous red velvet throne that sat in the middle of the stage. Why it was there, she didn't know, but she felt comfortable here in Fangtasia despite its cheesy décor. She could forget about being Princess and just be Sookie.

The quiet of the vamps minds helped and the pounding bass actually made it easier for her to block out the human thoughts unless she got up close and personal with them, which she didn't, ever. She might flout the rules of the Court by sneaking out alone to hang out with her old friends, but she'd never risk death for a one night stand. Unless she met her Mate, then all bets were off. The fae were allowed intimacy with their Mate since it followed that the pairing would result in marriage. Since she never intended on marrying, it wouldn't matter and it was her only loophole, her only hope for intimacy. She wasn't holding her breath.

There was something in both the vampire and fae mythologies that included something like soul mates; light and dark complementing the other or some such thing. Sookie needn't have worried; nobody had run across a Mate in over three hundred years.

The bartender sported long glossy black hair and rich caramel colored skin. There's this belief that all vampires were pale Bela Lugosi Nosferatu with bad breath and terrible skin, barely functioning above the level of an animal. It wasn't so. Though they did change after their turning, it was simply like a human would change over the years given their experiences. Vampires still looked the same as they did when they were changed over. If they were tan, they stayed tan; if they were pale-skinned, they stay pale-skinned. An African vampire didn't lose his skin tone just because he changed from human to vampire. Alas, the stereotypes were hard to overcome.

She ordered a gin and tonic and searched the room for her brother and their friends. She spotted them sitting in the far back corner booth. She waved and headed over.

"What's up, Princess?" Her brother teased her before enveloping her in a fierce bear hug.

He'd laughed his ass off when he found out she was Fae royalty. Suddenly his childhood nickname for her took on a whole other level. He was upset at first to find out he wasn't called to go live at Court, but Sookie explained that he really should value his freedom. None of them knew the whole truth of why she was there, to tell them would be to invite disaster, but she'd let them in on enough of what was going on that they felt she knew what she was doing. She didn't really, she thought quite often, not even sure if Niall had the right person for the job.

Tara was next to hug her and then Sam pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. They'd gone on one date once a long time ago, but there just wasn't anything between them like that. He was like another big brother to her. Still they'd gotten past it and they were all still good friends.

She filled them in on the happenings at Court, nothing exciting, but they liked to hear about her life anyway. She was just about to tell them about the banquet she'd attended a few weeks back when a ripple ran down her spine. The room fell suddenly silent, and Sookie tried to stay very still, seeking out where the energy emanated from: behind her and to the right towards the entrance. Did she dare turn around? Something was changing and she didn't know what.

Was she coming into her powers in the middle of a vampire bar in Shreveport, LA? She had no idea what to expect if that was the case. Niall hadn't told her what night trigger her powers to appear.

She felt him approach without needing to look. When he passed her, she inhaled heavily, drawing his glacier blue eyes to hers. The world stopped, which is such a ridiculous thing to say, the world didn't actually stop, but it felt like it narrowed to a simple circle that included only Sookie and the blond-haired man standing over six feet tall walking as if the universe bowed down before him—it probably did.

Her brother brought her back to reality, snapping his fingers in front of her face and calling her name.

"Sookie," his voice had taken on a frantic tone as she brought her focus back to the people in the booth. When he finally got her attention again, he asked, "What's up with the zone out, Sis? I know he's hot, but damn, it's like you took a trip to Jupiter there for a few minutes.

 _A few minutes?_ She was freaking out. It hadn't felt like more than a handful of seconds. She studied her brother, his thoughts freaking out inside his head while he tried to keep a look of calm on his face. Tara's thoughts were much the same, though gentler since they didn't share a blood tie. Hers focused on her worry about how Sookie's telepathy might be under strain. Sam's were a nest of bees as usual. As a shifter, a person able to change into any animal, not just a werewolf or werecoyote—were there beings that turned into bunnies? How about rats? She would have to remember to ask sometime. Any way it happened, she rarely made heads or tails of Sam's thoughts.

But right now, she had to concentrate to keep her eyes from staring at the towering Viking lowering himself into the throne that didn't look near as ridiculous once he occupied the space. A gorgeous, graceful, well-dressed blond woman walked up to stand behind him.

Wearing tight leather pants and a blood red bustiere, she scanned the crowd without moving from behind the Viking. Sookie found it easy to imagine that he belonged in a land long forgotten, swinging a battle axe and rampaging through the ancient world.

When her brain realigned itself in her head, she realized that this was Eric Northman; even hotter in person than he'd been in the magazine spread the Queen of Louisiana arranged after he was elected Sheriff of Area five. He also wore leather pants that screamed indecency, not that she minded. They hugged the sleek line of his thighs down to a pair of black motorcycle boots. His black t-shirt strained at his wide, muscular chest. Sookie tried desperately to stop sneaking glances at him.

The photos she'd seen did not do him justice. How a girl was supposed to fight an attraction to him baffled her. Until she realized they probably didn't fight it. What sane woman would? Well, the vampire and fae women probably accomplished it considering the death penalty associated with allowing him to have his way with them.

Sookie momentarily considered that it would be worth it, death by Viking sex god. Oh yes, she thought licking her lips unconsciously, it might very well be worth it. A stab of jealousy overtook her as she imagined the other women he had pleasured in his long years on this Earth. She laughed at the ridiculous thought. Why on God's green Earth should she be concerned with his prowess?

She forced the thoughts from her mind and focused on the people sitting with her. The three of them stared at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"What?" She asked, her eyes firmly affixed _not_ on Eric Northman.

Sam just studied her face, but Jason, being her brother and not having much of a filter, replied, "Sookie, I've never seen you look like you're ready to hop aboard any man you've ever met, let alone the SS Sheriff Northman. I'm feeling the need to defend your honor and all you're doing is sitting there. So what gives?"

Her jaw dropped open and she slammed her lips together into a thin line. "It's nothing. He's just kinda pretty, you know?"

"Kinda pretty?" Tara exclaimed. "Darling, that man is sex on a stick. I'm considering offering myself to him. The things that man could do—"

"You absolutely will not," Sookie responded a bit more vehemently than she'd meant. What the hell was her problem? Out of her peripheral vision, she caught Eric staring at her.

"Whoa Nelly! A bit over-protective for a man you've never met," Tara paused. "You haven't met him before have you, Sookie?"

"No," her voice came out a breathy whisper, annoyingly. "No, I haven't," she stated with more force.

"Shots!" was Jason's response to her awkwardness. Trust Jason to find the alcoholic answer to any situation—her brother had a fair bit of bad boy in him. "Maybe Sook will get up the gumption to go talk to Mr. Sex on a Stick."

Sookie swatted his arm as he caught the eye of the nearest waitress. When the woman approached, bright red mini skirt and tight sequined black tank top, he ordered them a round of Jagermeister. She was driving so she couldn't drink much, but Eric Northman's presence required a bit of fortification.

At least that's what she thought. That is until Eric Northman forced her gaze to his as she swallowed the shot, nearly choking in the process, crooked a single finger, and beckoned her forward.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Warning: Lemons/Naughtiness

* * *

"Did he just crook his fucking finger at me?" All the warmth Sookie'd been feeling in regards to the Viking whooshed out of her. "Did I morph into a toy poodle while my head was turned?"

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Jason joked, always ready to watch his sister verbally decimate anyone who underestimated her.

Tara looked uneasy. "Sookie, maybe you should just leave it alone. I mean I get it, that's some sexist shit if I ever saw it, but he's a vampire. That's just how they are. You of all people should know that."

Sookie stood and Tara reached out to keep her from leaving the booth. Sam shook his head, sipping his beer.

She turned to face Tara wishing she could confide in her about Niall's half-assed plan. "No, some things need to be addressed. They just do. What's he gonna do to me? We're in public."

"Yes, but…" Tara paused and then sighed. "No, you're right. I know you are. It's just, well, I'm not worried about what happens when you're in public, Sookie, more about what happens afterwards."

Sookie smiled sadly at her friend. She often wondered if she'd chosen poorly when she said yes to Niall. But if she couldn't handle one vampire, how would she ever change anything else? Start small: today Sheriff of Area Five, tomorrow society. A nervous chuckle escaped under her breath.

"I have to do this, Tara, you know I do. I wouldn't be me if I didn't." Deep breaths.

Sam made eye contact. "We get it, Sookie. Go on, we've got your back. We'll be right here if you need us."

She nodded and exited the booth, crossing the room to confront Eric Northman. She'd never admit it out loud, but terror plagued her every step. A vampire could turn deadly in the blink of an eye—literally. She stiffened her back as she approached the stage. She still felt the same draw to the man, but she tempered it with a huge dose of outrage.

Eric spoke before she even stopped moving. "Princess Brigant of the Royal Fae Court of Amun." He rolled his hand in a graceful mock bow. "To what do I owe the honor of your slumming it down here with the plebes?"

Sookie felt her mouth drop open, not only for the fact that he somehow knew her, but mostly for the classist crap he spewed. "Goodness gracious, you really are an asshole aren't you?"

Eric's body went rigid except for the crackling ice in his blue eyes, which inched over her entire frame before he spoke. "Absolutely. An asshole for good reason I assure you."

 _The nerve of that insufferable man._ "Let's get a few things straight. First, keep your eyes on my face. My boobs are not speaking to you. Secondly, I am not a dog and you will not treat me as such. If you want to speak to me, you can come down off that tacky throne and use your words." Eric eased himself back in the throne, crossing his arms, evidently amused by her. Sookie waved her arm around the bar, "Thirdly, these people are not plebeians, Sheriff High and Mighty. They are hardworking people who deserve your respect."

She cocked her hip to the side and tapped her foot waiting for his response. Fake it 'til you make it, right? He uncrossed his arms, placing them on the sides of the throne, and leaned forward.

"It would be wise for you to remember your place, Princess," he lowered his voice to an intimidating growl. "Is your uncle aware of where you spend your evenings?"

"My place? Awww, hells to the no. You aren't turning this around on me. Where I spend my time is none of your business." Sookie and her uncle had an understanding, albeit an unspoken one, but she realized to concede anything to the vampire before her, even a little bit, wouldn't end well for her. "How you treat your constituents is far more concerning to him than me hanging out with my brother and best friends. I wonder if my uncle would like to hear the way you really feel about the people who look to you for leadership."

The vampires and fae might believe the humans incapable of ruling themselves, but they didn't tolerate treating them as such. Both courts realized that to stay in power they needed to ensure the human's happiness.

"Did you just threaten me?" Eric's jaw dropped.

Sookie smirked at him. "Why yes, yes I did. What, you didn't realize women actually had opinions or brains of their own?" The blonde vampire behind him erupted into laughter.

"Oh that is priceless. Eric did you hear that? She thinks—" She couldn't even finish her sentence she was laughing so hard.

"I am well aware, Pam. Our Princess here knows nothing, does she?" His eyes narrowed.

The hilarity dropped off of Pam's face. She leaned against Eric's throne, staring at Sookie. "No, she really doesn't. Most importantly, she doesn't know me, now does she?"

"Stop calling me Princess, Eric, I hate it. And I apologize if I insulted you, Pam. But even you must admit, he's not making the best first impression." Pam shrugged in not quite agreement. The genteel southerner in Sookie rose to the occasion; she simply couldn't be rude to the woman, especially given that what Pam said was true. She really didn't know her. "I'm Sookie, it's nice to meet you."

Pam continued to stare, but Eric responded to Sookie. "There seem to be a great many things I cannot change about _our_ society, but just because the rules exist does not mean I espouse any kind of agreement to them."

Well, this was an unexpected development. Didn't mean she was letting him off the hook though. "You coulda fooled me with your come hither finger. Has no one ever informed you of how condescending that is?"

He raised a single eyebrow in her direction. "No, I've never had complaints about my fingers before," he replied dryly. "But I will allow that besides Pam, I've never met a woman unafraid to speak her mind to me. I'm not a man women say no to, Sookie." He stretched his leather-clad legs out in front of him, knowing exactly how mouth-watering he looked.

Her name flowed indecently off his tongue and she found herself once again mesmerized by the man before her. She swallowed, trying to remember what she'd been about to say before he laid himself out before her like an all you can eat gourmet buffet. _Focus, Sookie. Focus!_ Her train of thought kept derailing into the gutter.

The part of her brain that still functioned drove the train into the station. "I don't imagine they do, Sheriff Northman." Sookie thought it much safer to revert to titles.

"I much prefer when you call me Eric." He rose, towering over her. _I'd much prefer to have you between my thighs right now,_ Sookie thought, but did not say. He held his hand out for her to take. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot. Let me amend that now."

She placed her hand in his, a shock of electricity zipping through the contact. Eric's fingers tightened around hers, and a flicker of surprise skittered across his features. He said nothing, but simply raised her hand and brought it to his lips. _Fucking swoon_. "Well, this is true, Eric. What do you propose?"

"I propose," he began, naughtiness lingering in his eyes, "That I accompany you to the bar for a drink. Let's consider it the beginning of an apology for my boorish behavior."

Sookie indicated over her shoulder, "I did come with friends. I can't just ignore them."

Before she could blink, vampires burst into action, adding a table to the booth where Jason, Tara, and Sam waited, matching looks of astonishment on their faces. Eric began leading her over there, never once taking his hand from hers. The electricity she'd initially felt raced between them with the unbroken contact.

"I'd very much like to meet your friends," Eric replied as they moved to join up with the group.

This whole situation could implode at any second, but for some unknown freaking reason, Sookie didn't want Eric to leave, no matter how arrogant and frustrating she found him.

They stopped in front of the booth. "Sheriff Northman, this is my brother Deputy Jason Stackhouse, he works at the Bon Temps police department." She turned to Sam and Tara. "This is Sam Merlotte, owner of Merlotte's where I used to work. And Tara Thornton, my oldest friend. We've known each other since kindergarten."

He nodded to each of them in turn. "I am pleased to meet you all." He faced Pam, who'd slipped into the booth to sit next to Jason. "This is my second in command, Pamela Ravenscroft."

He pulled out a chair for Sookie and then scooted his closer to hers, joining their hands under the table. _Why was she letting him hold her hand?_ The same waitress from earlier returned with a round of drinks for everyone. They chatted amiably about nothing of importance. Pam flirted with Jason, while Sam and Tara shared looks of surprise at the strange turn their night had taken. While she tried to focus on the conversation going on around her, Eric traced his thumb in circles around her palm, driving her libido absolutely batshit crazy.

Through it all, Jason and Sam eyed Eric with suspicion. And then, true to his nature, Jason opened his mouth without thinking. "So what exactly are your intentions towards my sister, Eric? Don't think I haven't caught you staring."

Trust her big brother to play the honor card without even discussing it with her—not that she'd ever give him permission to play the great big male protector.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Jason. Eric, excuse my brother, he tends to spit out the first thought that pops into his head."

Eric froze in place, directing a look at her brother that promised evisceration, whether verbal or physical, Sookie was unsure.

"Though I'm fairly certain your sister can speak for herself, I will respond to your question." A slow smile spread across his face, which did nothing to alleviate the danger seeping from him. "I intend to fuck your sister senseless and ruin her for any other man."

She ripped her hand from his. "Fuck what, Eric Northman?" Sookie exclaimed. His statement really wasn't funny given the society they existed in. Granted, neither her brother nor her friends knew about that aspect of her life, but still. Eric took a huge risk joking about something like that.

Jason, eager to defend her, jumped out of his seat, almost knocking over his beer. Sookie interrupted his misguided intentions. "You sit right back down, Jason Stackhouse. I am utterly capable of taking care of this situation myself." She turned her glare on Eric. "And you! Stop testing my brother, that's all you're doing and I don't appreciate it. I thought we were past the macho patriarchal bullshit. Not to mention, I have no intention of falling into bed with you."

"So you think." Eric laced his fingers behind his head, looking mighty pleased.

"So I know, Dick Munch." Sookie stifled the laugh that threatened to surface when Pam mouthed the phrase Dick Munch to Eric. Ridiculous phrases aside, these two men needed to just shut it. "Both of you behave yourselves. I have no problem leaving right now if I have to combat anymore of your nonsense."

"My apologies, Princess," Eric responded at the same time Jason sulked out a "Sorry, sis."

Eric leaned down to whisper in her ear. "But I really wasn't kidding. I do want to fuck the living daylights out of you so that you want no one but me."

She returned the favor, leaning in close enough that her lips graced his earlobe, "Why? So you could watch as two misogynistic courts come together to stone me all for fear of one pesky vagina?"

Pam watched the entire thing play out as if she sat in a movie theater and the only thing missing was the popcorn.

Eric leveled her with an intense gaze. "One," he traced his index finger down the inside of her arm from the crook of her elbow to the inside of her wrist, drawing light swirls that burned in response to his touch. "Anyone who tried to harm one hair on your delicious body would lose the arm before they threw the first stone."

His finger moved to her palm, skimming across the surface. He leaned forward reaching with the other hand to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear and whispered, "Two, when you slip between your sheets tonight, before you fall asleep, you'll reach down and touch yourself, remembering how I felt between your thighs."

Sookie was having trouble breathing as he nibbled down the length of her jaw. His lips hovered centimeters away from hers as he finished, "Three, you don't know it yet, but you are mine."

His lips closed the distance and every shock of electricity she'd felt before exploded between them. Never in her life had she been kissed like this. She only needed three fingers to count the number of men who had kissed her in the past, but she knew this kiss would haunt her. She would measure every pair of lips to the intoxication she felt as his mouth opened and his tongue swept over hers. Every nerve ending flared to life and she wound her fingers into his blond hair, pulling him closer to her. She lost herself in the sensation.

Finally, his last words to her truly sank in. _You are mine._ A long-buried instinct leftover from prehistoric times surged with joy at his pronouncement, but the modern day woman did the only thing she could. She pulled away from that world-altering kiss, took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and stood, a little unsteadily, but of her own volition.

"Guys, it's been great, but I need to be going now." She glanced over her friends to see nods of agreement. This whole night had gotten out of hand quickly, and she needed to separate herself from the temptation Eric Northman provided. Pam appeared smug, while Eric stared at her in confusion.

Tara spoke up first. "Are you okay to get home?"

Sookie glimpsed down at the drink in front of her. She'd barely touched it. "Yeah, I'm good, no worries. I'll call you when I get home, m'kay?" She stepped farther away from Eric.

"I'll walk you out." Jason made to stand and Sookie waved off his concern.

"I'm fine, Jas, really. We'll get together again soon." She walked around and kissed her brother on the cheek. "Pam, it was nice meeting you."

She ignored Eric except to issue him a curt goodbye, and then she turned on her heel and fled. She knew it was probably childish, but she didn't know how to handle the situation with him. She found him high-handed, conceited, and exasperating, despite showing glimpses of a being a decent man. She couldn't explain it, but her body responded to him. She definitely needed to put distance between the two of them.

She pushed through the front door, taking in gulps of the clean night air. It soothed her. She neared her car and stared up into the sky full of stars. Eric Northman was the worst kind of danger. She'd practically crawled into his lap when he kissed her and her sane mind barely registered his whispered claim upon her. Sookie reached down and rubbed her left wrist, still tingling.

Lost in thought, she didn't hear Eric approach.

"Princess…" Her head drooped forward.

"Eric," she said, her voice soft, "I just can't right now. I am not a princess, and I will not be your conquest. There is nothing to win here. Please, go find someone else to seduce. I'm sure there are plenty of willing partners."

"I don't want anyone else." A sincere tone laced his words, but what did she know, she'd only just met the man.

"Who even says that to someone they just met? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" She whirled on him, her temper flaring. "Look, I get it, you're hot. You've probably ruined plenty of women in your time. I won't be one of them. Just leave. Please…"

He stepped towards her, but she held up her hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry I kissed you, Sookie, well not sorry—I needed to know if what I felt—oh gods, I'm making a mess of this." He scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Just look at your wrist, Sookie, please," Eric pleaded. His tone, so different from the commanding Eric he'd been when they met, gave her pause.

She pulled back her hand, turning it over to discover an iridescent silver mark. She twisted her wrist to catch the overhead light.

"It's the infinity symbol," he stretched out his arm to show her an identical figure inscribed on his skin. "It is the Sign of Síorghrá. We are Mates."

 _It couldn't be, could it?_ "This must be a joke." She licked her thumb, rubbing it over the mark.

A twitch of a smile greeted her when she looked back at the vampire standing in front of her. "I've seen the symbol on others, though both our communities thought we'd lost the ability to find our Mates when surrounded by the modern world. I'd given up hope of finding mine hundreds of years ago."

"You can't be serious?" Sookie blinked up at him, searching his face for some sign that this was all some big colossal joke. "You? You're my mate? I can barely stand you. Sure, your kiss could burn a house down, but surely the universe wouldn't saddle the two of us together."

A flicker of hurt flashed across his face. "Why? Because you're an intolerable feminist—"

She didn't let him go any further. "Because you're an impossibly egotistical asshole who takes what he wants without thought for the consequences."

He surged forward and his hands landed on either side of her as she pressed her body back against the car. "Oh I've thought about the consequences and they all end with you as my first, last, and only wife."

He eliminated the space between them, his body completing a path to hers. "Whatever you believe, I have never ruined a woman. My only lovers in the past three hundred years have been human. I remember the time before the courts concerned themselves with the private lives of the supernatural community. I remember when women were free to take partners as they wished. I have waited a very long time for you, but I have never forced a woman against her will. Tell me you don't want me. Tell me right now and I will walk away. "

Her entire body rebelled against her rational mind. This could be her one chance, the loophole she secretly desired. Silently she could admit that their verbal sparring had turned her on just as much as feeling the hard length of him held captive by his leather pants. Something inside him called to her, never mind the fact that they'd just met. She wanted more; she couldn't deny it. She wanted to give herself to this man and wanted to take him in return. An image of her riding his naked body overcame her and she made her choice. She began to move against him.

His lips crashed into hers. His kiss earlier had been a tease, a promise of the heat that erupted through her as he plundered her mouth. She wrapped her leg around him, welcoming him between her thighs. He grabbed her and lifted her the rest of the way, their bodies meeting in the middle. She pulled her lips away, gasping for air and he moved his focus to the valley of her throat, sucking, licking, and biting as she moaned into the darkness. Her fingers dragged his t-shirt from the waistband of his pants, needing to feel his skin. Her nails scraped down his back and he growled into her neck. She felt his fangs lengthen and slide down the line of her vein, a delectable promise.

Eric inhaled deeply, despite the fact that he had no need of breath, and stilled. "Not here. I won't have my first time with my Mate be somewhere anyone could walk up on us."

His cock throbbed against her center as she gathered her thoughts. She was far past caring where they were when they came together, but he was right, her quickly dimming common sense agreed.

She unwrapped her legs and slid down his body, reveling in the sensation. "Get in the car. I know a place."

He didn't argue. By the time they arrived at her grandmother's house, they were both ready to explode.

The moment she stopped the car, he pulled her from her seat, picking up where they'd left off in Fangtasia's parking lot. Her legs around him once again, and he vamped to the door. He set her down and spun her around, one hand following the line of her breast, the other tracing just under the top of her jeans. She fumbled with her keys fighting the rising emotions set loose inside her.

Finally, she unlocked the door and they tumbled through it, Eric kicking it closed behind him. She ripped his t-shirt over his head, running her fingers down his chiseled chest. He returned the favor and his fingers found the lacy edge of her bra. Rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, the gentle scraping of the fabric sent a bolt of warmth thrumming through her. His mouth moved to replace his fingers and her hands tangled in his hair.

Five years of doubt surfaced, "Eric," she gasped for air. He raised his head to look up at her, as his tongue stroked against her skin. "Stop a moment, please."

Eric straightened himself, adjusting her bra so her breasts were covered. "Of course, what's the matter, Sookie?"

"I don't want to die. I want you so badly my legs are jelly, but what if I misread the laws? If I misunderstood?" Her eyes turned downward, she couldn't look at him. How could she have let it get this far? What if she was wrong?

A tender look suffused his face and he pushed her hair back. He kissed her cheeks. "Look at me, Sookie," he said, his voice kind. She brought her gaze to him. "I know the law. We are Mates, and they cannot touch you without my consent. And I will never allow harm to come to you. But I want you to choose this, to choose me of your own free will."

He waited patiently for her to sort through her thoughts. She remembered reading the law and knowing what he said was true, but, "How do I know they won't change their minds? If there hasn't been a Mated pair in hundreds of years—the way they treat women—I'm so confused."

He picked her up and carried her over to the old worn brown sofa. "The supernatural community thrives on its adherence to its laws. They've stood since the early 17th century and no one has been able to challenge them, for good or for ill. You have nothing to fear, but I understand your trepidation. As I said, nothing needs to happen tonight. It will change nothing. You are my Mate and I will not allow them to take me from you. If they try anything, I will burn down every palace in my way to reach you. And then we will challenge them together. Side by side."

Now that she could think straight again, she knew that he was right. She read all those laws, and learned the history of both communities from her uncle. More than that, she felt a mystical connection tying her to Eric, one that told her he was not lying. Her virginity had never overly concerned her, but she wanted him to be her first.

She answered by reaching up to unclasp her bra. His eyes widened, but he hesitated. She reached down and took his hand. "Touch me, Eric. I want you. Tonight, let me be yours, and let me claim you as mine."

She still had no desire to marry, but she couldn't fight the magnetism she felt to this man. She reached down unbuttoning his leather pants and he rose so that she could peel them off of him. He stood nude before her and her fingers wrapped around him, drawing a moan out of him. She felt clumsy, but his reaction gave her confidence. She yearned to taste him and slid his length into her mouth, steel and silk traced by her tongue, his hands grasping her head, encouraging her until he could take no more. His pulled her gently to her feet and slowly undid the snap of her jeans. As he removed them, his hands traced every inch of her skin as it was revealed. She was left standing in only her pink satin panties. His eyes devoured her before he knelt, taking the scalloped edge of the remaining barrier in his teeth and inching them down. He never took his eyes from hers as he licked the line of her, drinking in the taste of her. The sensation left her trembling.

She held out her hand, feeling sexy and powerful as she led him to her old bedroom. He kissed her, following her body as they tumbled together onto the bed. One finger moved inside her as she encircled his erection, loving the hard length of him in her hand.

"Eric, I need you, now. I can't wait anymore." Sookie's heart raced, the passion inside her a heady rush through her veins.

He slowed his movements, catching her eyes. "Are you sure? It will hurt, but only for a minute."

She stilled having forgotten about the lack of any proof of her virginity. "Actually, it won't. I had an accident when I was a child—"

She would have continued, but he stopped her words with his mouth.

In between kisses, he reassured her, "I would not have cared even if you weren't a virgin, but I am glad that I am the man who gets to share this experience with you."

The tip of him pressed against her, begging entrance. She widened her legs; her hands clenching his perfectly formed ass, urging him forward. Slowly, he sank into her, and she cried out in wild abandon. Neither of them moved the moment he was finally seated deep inside her, the feeling exquisite.

"Oh gods, this was worth every long year of waiting to find you." They began to move at the same time, unable to hold back any longer. He pulled out and inched forward, repeatedly. Their movements controlled at first, but becoming a frantic coupling. She'd never felt safer, more at home, than she did with him filling her. With every thrust, their connection grew stronger. They hadn't bothered to turn on the lamp, but two lights began to pulsate, dancing against the walls.

They noticed it together and Eric's eyes widened in wonder. They both glowed, hers a golden color that mimicked the sun, his filled with the color of the full moon. They both watched as their energies twined together until the two became one. They never slowed their bodies, and the mingled light grew brighter as their neared their climax. As their pleasure broke free of their bodies, Sookie felt a lock click into place between them. They lay panting as the light surrounding them dimmed, retreating within them. Strands of gold seeping into his body, bright white moonlight settling into hers, and in the eyes of the universe, they were well and truly joined.

They made love again that night, but eventually the threatening sunrise forced them back to their respective homes. As she settled into bed, in the moments before the inhabitants of the court rose for the day, she had no idea what the future held. But as he had promised earlier in the evening, before her eyes closed in contented exhaustion, she reached down and touched herself, remembering the unforgettable feeling of having him inside her.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's hoping everything's well with you all. Adding in a bit of Eric's mindset this time around.  
As always, reviews are welcomed and encouraged. They make me smile._

Mad lovely,  
Secret Nerd Princess

 _Thanks go out once again to my sister the best Beta ever._

* * *

 _Sookie_

Dusty rose sunlight streamed in through the French doors that opened onto her balcony. Sookie snuggled further under the covers, her toes curling in response to the memories of her night with Eric while her body hummed in happiness. Sex. She'd had sex after years of the inability to carry on any kind of relationship with anyone because of her telepathy.

Imagine trying to stay in the mood when you knew your date only thought about how long it'd be before he could get into your pants. She'd been much younger when she let Ralph walk her out to her car after their date and he kissed her behind the garbage can at Merlotte's. He hadn't cared that they stood surrounded by flies and the sickeningly sweet smell of rotting food.

Sookie'd thought he was a nice guy who went to Bon Temps High with her. They didn't share any classes, but he was cute and there weren't many boys asking her out since they all knew about her "curse." So when the handsome baseball player invited her on a date, she'd accepted. She suggested they meet at Merlotte's and agreed that if things went well they'd go to the movies afterwards.

Sookie sighed remembering how uncomfortable she was hearing Ralph's thoughts. He hid them well, at first. That is until he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her close. Then the truth erupted in surround sound. He only wanted her for her "tits and ass." He didn't care about her at all, and that had hurt. Her next two kisses hadn't gone any better, but at least they didn't happen behind a garbage can.

Sookie squirmed pleasantly in recollection. Even though Eric's brain was blessedly silent, the two of them felt different. Good different, the butterflies racing through her veins insisted. They connected, literally and metaphysically. And there wasn't a damn thing that her uncle or anyone else could do about it. They could just suck it. She'd embraced her sexuality and she couldn't think of even one regret. Nope, she was pleasantly relaxed and—a light knock interrupted her naughty musings.

Arlene's tentative voice wafted in, "Miss Stackhouse…"

Sookie pulled the white fluffy duvet covered in tiny pink flowers over her head, groaning. If she ignored her maid, Arlene would just keep knocking.

Sookie pulled the edge back down and called out, "Yeah, Arlene, come on in. Tell me you have coffee."

The blazingly red-haired woman tiptoed into the room; the scent of dark roast preceded her. "Hey Sookie, I'm so sorry to wake you, but I come bearing an offering."

"You didn't wake me actually. Just feeling lazy this afternoon, I guess." She scooched up against the massive pile of pillows and accepted the warm mug of bliss, watching Arlene head into her walk-in closet.

"What are you doing?" The sound of hangers scraping against the wooden bar floated out to her. "I've told you a hundred times: I am utterly capable of picking out my own outfit. Heaven in liquid form is one thing, but I don't need you to wait on me for real."

Arlene never stopped searching through her clothing. "I know, but…well, I just thought I might be able to help you."

Sookie gave up the fight, a constant battle between the two women. Sometimes it was just easier to go along with whatever the chatty woman wanted.

Niall arranged a job for the ex-Merlotte's waitress a few years after Sookie moved over to the mansion. She'd never wanted a maid, let alone Arlene—the woman gossiped too much for her taste, which ended up being a benefit here at court actually—but the skinny woman tried too hard to please for Sookie to treat her poorly. They'd barely known each other before Sookie moved over to the court. Over the two years they'd spent together afterwards, she'd become a kind of friend, hard to come by amongst the political maneuverings of everyone else who resided there.

"How's everybody back home?" Arlene exited the closet arms loaded down with options. She'd been eager to leave Bon Temps after her husband, a veteran, died. As with many soldiers, he had a hard time readjusting after the war. He went looking for trouble and it'd found him. But she still tried to monitor the happenings in her hometown.

"Real good, Arlene, I gave them your love," she replied, watching the woman cross the room to lay her burdens down on the antique dresser in front of the bed.

"Whaddya want to wear today, Sookie?" The redhead smiled and held up a yellow gingham sundress as well as a periwinkle 40s style dress with cap sleeves and pockets. Pants and tops littered the top of the dresser behind Arlene, but she only ever suggested those as a last resort.

Sookie sipped her coffee. "I don't care, Arlene. Choose whatever."

She sat up and threw her legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes and wishing she could lie there for at least three more hours basking in the afterglow of last night. But it was already almost sundown, and she had to face her uncle at some point. Hiding from the world would be perceived as being ashamed of her actions. She preferred to face her detractors head on.

Arlene kept up a steady stream of chatter while the blonde mentally accepted the armor of a knee length dress and high ponytail: pretending to be no one other than Sookie Stackhouse. Once the redhead deemed her presentable, she knelt down lacing her fingers through the straps of her wedge heels, slipping them on, and after adding a dash of lip-gloss, touched the Síorghrá on her wrist for reassurance. She refused to reveal Eric Northman as her Mate; what he meant to her would remain a secret. The existence of feelings didn't equal automatic commitment.

Satisfied her loins were as girded as they were gonna get, Sookie put one foot in front of the other, striding down the hallway past the portraits of ancestors and antagonists. Every face of every family member of the last three hundred years, however distantly related, was directly responsible for putting her in this position. Stopping in front of the painting of her great-grandfather Sookie stared at his blue eyes, almost identical to hers, and wondered exactly what the fuck he was thinking. Certainly, Niall was much better suited to this kind of fine-line walking.

No, now was not the time for doubts. Grandpa Dumbledore and Sookie would have words soon enough about throwing her into the middle of the insanity of the courts. The royal Princess focused on surviving the next hour. Standing in front of his office she inhaled deeply, wishing she were weeding her grandmother's garden, or scrubbing her kitchen floors.

Desmond knew before she spoke that his niece awaited entrance. "Come in, Sookie."

Stiffening her resolve, she pushed through the doors. "Good afternoon."

Her uncle tapped away at his keyboard without even glancing in her direction. She settled herself in the leather chair in front of his desk and waited, knowing it wouldn't be long until he acknowledged her.

A breeze from the window behind her blew across her back. Desmond froze. The icicles of his tone assaulted her. "What have you done?"

"Whatever do you mean, Uncle Des?" Sookie played it cool, showing only strength and none of her terror.

Slamming his hands down on the thick mahogany wood, he arose and glared at her. "You are no longer a virgin!"

"No. I am not," she replied evenly, imitating a vampire's calm exterior. "Though, I'm not sure why that should concern you."

The dark-haired force of anger stormed around the desk, stopping directly in front of her. "Why it should concern me? ME? Your Uncle, who has sheltered and fed you for the last five years, is this how I am repaid? Should I lose my only niece? I loved your grandmother, and happily took you in when the Prince requested it of me. Have I not treated you with every kindness and allowed you freedoms that other women only dream of?"

Her ponytail whipped around as she stood to face him. "They shouldn't have to dream of those freedoms, or fear for their lives when they grasp a little happiness for themselves. I have done nothing wrong. I know the laws, Desmond. I read the Constitution from cover to cover, remember?" She paused, turning over her left wrist. "I have found my Mate. There is nothing further you can question me about."

She held the Síorghrá up so that he could examine the mark. "Who is this man? I will have him before me right now to answer for his actions."

 _Do or die time._ "I will not tell you. Our time together is just that, ours. No one else's."

"How dare you." Her uncle turned a darker shade of red, his eyes narrowing to slits. "No Mated couple has ever refused to marry, it is not done. I will have this man's name from you and he will claim you in front of the Court. It is the only way to overcome this disgrace."

Trying to bury her fury wasn't working. She'd known what faced her, but standing there listening to her uncle berating her, pushed her over the edge.

She shoved her wrist in his face. "This means you get to say nothing. And I will not marry the man. Nowhere in that dusty tome did it say I _had_ to marry my Mate. The narrow-minded men who wrote it centuries ago thought it a foregone conclusion that a woman would automatically want to tie herself to one man for the rest of her life, however long that might be. I am not that woman. What he and I shared is between us, and it will go no further than that."

Desmond crumpled against the edge of his desk. "Why? Why wouldn't you want someone to take care of you? To love you?"

Sookie reached out to him, but he turned away. Gentling her voice, she replied, "I don't see what one has to do with the other. He can love me without owning me, without 'taking care of me.' Can't you understand that I'm still my own person? I haven't changed in the last twenty-four hours. It is ridiculous to punish a woman simply for pursuing pleasure. It isn't only men that desire intimacy without attachment."

His hand sliced the air between them. "Enough. Sookie, you cannot change several generations of supernatural communities simply by wishing it." The man paced away from her, muttering, "At least there's a Mate. Much worse…could be much worse. If we hide her away until he can be found—"

"No. Absolutely not. Let me reiterate, I have done nothing wrong. At all. I stuck to your stupid fairy laws. There's nothing you can do and if any of you even think of raising a hand to me, I will not be held accountable for my actions in response."

Desmond stumbled backwards, falling into his chair. "Do you really think that I would harm you? For all our disagreements, you are my family." He scrubbed his hands over his face. "Whether I agree with the law or not doesn't matter. I am King. My family must be above reproach. What would you have me do?"

"Change the fucking law. Get off your ass and do something about it." Sookie reined in her temper. "Don't you understand? I _am_ above reproach and the law backs me on this. Show the Court that you will not be cowed by small minds," she pleaded with him.

He leaned forward across the expanse between them. "Please, Sookie. Don't do this now. We are about to go to war and need to present a unified front." He clasped her hands. "Tell me who this man is. Let me call him here."

She squeezed his hands, knowing what she was about to say would hurt him, but had to do it anyway. The one thing Niall had gotten right was her desire to change the system once she was aware of it. It wouldn't be easy, but this was the first step.

"I will not. Even if the law were not on my side, I am not ashamed of my actions, and I won't be bullied into revealing something that will be used to trap me into a relationship I'm not even sure I want. Can't you understand that?"

His entire body seemed to shrivel in on itself. "Then there is nothing to be done, but to send you away. There are courts in Scotland that would take you. The question being, how many guards should I send with you? I need to keep you safe. With no Mate to protect you, your body will be at risk. And if you were harmed but there was no proof, I would have no way to protect you from being labeled Fallen."

She stalked away from him. "Fuck what? Lemme get this straight, since I had sex with my Mate, which, by the way, is completely acceptable according to the fucking law, because of that? Because I liked it once, I have to worry about the sanctity of my own body? Proof?" Sookie found herself on the verge of completely losing her temper. "So what kind of bullshit proof do they need? Claw marks? Blood? A black eye? What? Tell me, Uncle. Tell me about this system you're so keen on protecting."

Stopping, she fisted her hands and waited for his defense. He came around to her, grasping her upper arms, not harshly, but with a desperate begging.

"If you tell me the name of your Mate, no one can touch you since any crime against you will be avenged by him."

Her eyes bore into his, searching for the truth. "And without the name…what then? If some man overpowers me, what happens then?"

He hung his head and sighed. "It is your word against his. Granted, you are a Princess of the Royal Court, but that clout will only get you so far. As your uncle and regent, I would have to recuse myself. There is little I could do to help you. "

Sookie fumed, yanking her arms out of his hands. "How have none of you done anything about this yet? I don't even get it."

"My hands are tied. Please—" his voice broke. "Please…tell me and I promise, when the war is ended, I will do everything I can to change this. I swear it. But help me protect you now."

"That will not be necessary, your Majesty." Eric entered the room and executed a perfectly timed bow, coming up right behind her and slipping his arm around her waist. "I will protect my Mate and future wife."

"Oh, fuck me." This just went from bad to worse, she thought, taking in Eric's grey Armani suit, white shirt, and blue tie that just so happened to match her dress. He looked really good, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, Eric let his lips linger for an instant. "I already did, my love, and I intend to do it again."

She glanced up at his waggling eyebrows. "You really think now is the time for this? Get your hands off of me," she commanded, twisting her way out of his hold. Her heart fluttered at his arrival, but she tamped down the flames he stoked. "I have absolutely no intention of becoming your wife. Mate you might be, but husband—that's never going to happen."

"So you think," promised the Viking.

"So I know." Sookie crossed the room, removing herself from whatever voodoo his libido practiced on her hormones.

The clicking of Pam's heels put the capper on her day.

"Does this mean I get to fight instead of stay home and babysit the breather?" Perfectly styled in a pink twin-set, Pam tapped her toe and crossed her arms. Sookie couldn't imagine her on the battlefield, but she didn't doubt the vampire dressed like an upper-crust debutante would be vicious and merciless.

"Silence!" The fae King ordered. When even Pam's tapping stopped, he continued. "Sheriff Northman, am I to understand that you are my niece's Mate?"

Eric extended his wrist. "And I am here to claim what's mine."

"I am not yours, Eric Northman. Get that through your thick skull. I belong to myself and no one else." She moved so she could lay her fingertips lightly on her uncle's arm. "Please. You know who he is now, send him away."

Desmond noticed only her fleeting look at Eric, seeing more there than she intended. He turned back to her unwanted soon-to-be fiancé—something she was trying desperately to avoid getting.

"What are your intentions? You are to lead Sophie Ann's northern division into battle, am I correct? Which means you will be leaving for the length of the war." He relocated himself behind his desk. Eric took the seat in front of him that Sookie had vacated in her anger.

"This is correct. I am bound in duty to my Queen. My second, Pamela Ravenscroft will stay to protect my Mate."

Pam didn't bother to hide the scowl on her face.

"Seems the assignment doesn't agree with Chief Deputy Ravenscroft." Desmond leaned back in his chair, crossing his left ankle over his knee, eyeing the blonde-haired soccer mom.

"She will obey." Pam rolled her eyes; Eric leveled a glare at her. "Despite her attitude, she is the only one I would trust with this besides myself."

"You will marry my niece then." Eric nodded, grasping her uncle's proffered hand. "Good. Then it's settled. We will work out the appropriate dowry when you return from the war since it's too late to begin before. A simple contract will have to do until then. We'll announce it to the Courts tonight at the send-off banquet."

They both stood, while Sookie just gawked.

"Excuse me?" She cleared her throat to gain their attention. Heaven forbid they should include her in their negotiations. "How dare you."

"How dare we what, my dearest niece?" Desmond sounded satisfied, as if canary yellow feathers fluffed out of his mouth, dancing on his exhaled breath.

 _What the fuck was wrong with these people?_ "Your dearest niece? The one you just sold to the first man who came along to claim me?" In Eric's eyes, Sookie saw a flicker of hurt that his body language refused to admit.

"He is not the first man," her uncle interrupted, "but he is the one who'll make you happy."

"And you know that how?" Sookie demanded to know, crossing her arms over her chest.

Eric response made it sound so simple. "We are Mates. This is how it is for those chosen to bear the Síorghrá. What is there to debate?"

Furious, she lost control of her temper. "First of all? My agreement to the actual engagement might be nice. It might also have been kinda awesome if we'd talked about this before you came storming in here all caveman-like and declaring to one and all that I was taken. I mean, sheesh, did you leave your club in the car? Or did you think you'd grab me by my ponytail and I'd just acquiesce without a word? I don't want to get married and I most certainly don't want you."

"Think about this rationally, Sookie—" her uncle, who at the moment was acting far more like her King than her relative, began, but Pam held up her hand to stop him.

Eric's second came to sit next to her on the matching leather couch where the suddenly exhausted blonde collapsed, her head in her hands.

"Think of it this way. You have until the end of the war to find a way out of this marriage if you want it." Sookie lifted her head to study the woman's face. Pam seemed sincere. Eric appeared pissed. _Good._ "I will help you search the old texts. The one thing you have going for you right now is that he is your Mate, there's no denying that. Nor, do I think, you'd want to," the woman added conspiratorially.

Sookie almost disagreed, but then thought better of it. Whether she liked it or not, given the laws as they were written now, the only thing keeping an angry mob from battering down her door, was the mark binding her to Eric. _And you do have feelings for him_ , a small part of her whispered.

"The old texts are the only ones that deal with Mates. If there is an out, you will find it there."

"Pamela…" Eric threatened.

"She's right, Eric, and you know it." Pam smoothed her skirt and stood, facing him.

He never stopped scowling, but he nodded back at her.

Desmond clapped his hands. "I will draw up a short document indicating the commencement of an agreement between us." He turned to face his niece. "Sookie, you will need a dress."

"And that is an area in which I am unbelievably qualified to give guidance. I'll meet you downstairs in a half an hour." She winked at Sookie and after bowing to Desmond, walked into the hallway.

Eric knelt in front of her, taking her smaller hands in his. "Sookie, I promise you, I will care for you and love you like no other man you will ever encounter. You will never have cause to regret our joining." He brought his forehead to her fingertips and then brushed his lips across her knuckles.

His heart in his eyes, he seemed so earnest, but Sookie couldn't believe it. He'd taken away her choice, and no matter what she felt blossoming between them, she refused to be anything less than an equal partner in a relationship.

"I already do."

What is it they say? That sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war? Sookie really hoped so as she watched her Mate and her uncle shake hands and part.

 _Eric_

"You know this isn't the way to go about wooing her, right?" His second walked beside him down the grandiose hallway, telling him the one thing he already knew.

Eric's posture deflated in front of the one person he trusted without reservation. "I know of no other way to go about it. I love the frustrating woman and I will not leave her unprotected. She means too much to me."

"You've spent one night with the woman, Eric," Pam smirked, teasing him. His eyes pleaded with hers, begging for understanding. She reined in her sarcasm. "I told you that you should have spoken to her first. You even admitted that she didn't want to marry. How did you expect her to react?"

"There wasn't time. What if something would've happened to her before I could get her alone to explain? What if—" He shoved down the emotions threatening to overwhelm him, "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if she'd been harmed. I am trusting you, Pamela, with the gift I never thought I'd find."

"You know I never can resist you when you give me your puppy dog eyes…"

Eric growled, "I am a thousand year old vampire, I do not make puppy dog eyes."

The small blonde laughed at him. "So you say, but I'm the one looking at your face right now."

"Enough."

Pam stifled her laughter. "She'll be a handful…"

Laying a hand on her delicate shoulder, Eric nodded in agreement. "Yes, but she needs you. Though she is not a child, she is headstrong and I sense she's on some kind of a mission." He stopped and faced her. "You can guide her, especially given that since we've joined she will begin to come into her powers."

"If the myths are to be believed."

"They are not myths, Pam, I've seen the powers awaken in Mated couples before."

Placing her hands on her hips, her lips quirked up into a smile, "I'm gonna need the black Visa. Retail therapy is the only thing that will see me through this assignment. You'll probably have to add another room just for my shoes alone."

A real smile crept across his face. "I think you two will actually learn to like each other."

Pam looked aghast. "Me? Friends with a fae Princess?" She scoffed. "Doubtful at best."

He laid a hand on her cheek, pulling her forward to kiss her forehead. "Thank you. This means more to me than I can properly express."

The rest of the day and night passed without incident. When Eric saw the radiance of his Mate in a red full-length Vera Wang gown, her golden shoulders bare, he was glad he wore his best black tux. Sookie played the part of a happy Mate, but he could tell her reservations of him never left her.

But when he took her in his arms and they circled the dance floor together, he knew he'd done the right thing. She was resplendent and gracious, graceful and kind, a whole lot of sass and incredibly smart. He'd always had a thing for a woman with intelligence. He never wanted to let her go.

The announcement that they were the first Mated couple in three hundred years was met with wild applause. Both of the Courts needed this. As he glanced around at the mingling vampires and fae, he saw hope: hope that had been missing in their communities for far too long. Tomorrow they would leave and some would never return. _He_ might never return from the battlefront.

Eric squeezed the hand she'd allowed him to hold under the table. Her big blue eyes caught his, and he smiled, knowing he would do anything in his power to return to her. If only to figure out how they could possibly navigate the storm-tossed seas that surrounded them. Pam's help would be crucial in understanding this fiery woman he already loved fiercely.

He didn't understand the feelings surging inside him, but now that he had them, he never wanted to be without them.

They left the party late and he walked her to her suite, never letting go of her. He could feel her shutting down, blocking him out, and he didn't want to part with her. Not like this.

"Sookie I…" Eric gathered his wits about him. She needed to hear him. "I know this is not the way you would have gone about things. "

Her lips pressed into a thin line he wanted to kiss away.

"Eric—" her voice came out resigned, her hand came up to rest upon his chest, paused in the act of pushing him away.

"Please, just listen." He waited, patient. He felt the moment she opened herself, if only slightly, to what he had to say. "I don't know how or why this is happening between us, but I want it; I want what might be between us. I love you whether I can explain it or not. Tomorrow I leave and I have no idea when I'll be back, but every day I live without you, you will be the thought that drives me. I will come home to prove to you that I am not the man you think I am."

His left hand raised up to cradle her face, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. Behind the confusion in her eyes lived the same hope he saw written across the faces he'd witnessed earlier in the night.

"I want to believe you, Eric, I really do, but I don't know you. And now you're leaving just as we're beginning." She blinked back unshed tears.

"If I could change that, I would. After waiting so long to find you, I find the delay unbearable."

He gave up on words then, inching slowly towards her, wanting her to want his kiss. Only when her eyelids fluttered closed and her chin tilted up, seeking out his lips, did he close the distance between them. Pressing goodbye into her soul, he gave his heart into her keeping.


	4. Chapter 4

_Two chapters with this update (four and five), though originally they were one, but the chapter got far too long.  
As usual, mad amount of love to my sister: my beta extraordinaire, Kittyinaz: for our late night brainstorming sessions, and Realjena for reading and finding the initial mistakes! Without these ladies, I'd be lost._

 _Enjoy! Review! Comment! It's too darn humid, I need a smile._

 _Mad lovely,  
Secret Nerd Princess_

* * *

 _Six Months  
Twenty-Three Days_

"Why in the hell did Eric leave me behind to deal with the most irrational fairy I've ever had the displeasure of knowing?" Pam lamented. "I could be in the midst of a glorious disemboweling right now. I could be rending heads from bodies, ripping the enemy limb from limb beside my maker. But no, I had to stay here and play Suzie Homemaker with the most deficient Fairy Mate in the history of time."

Sookie tried to rein in her temper. The blood-sucking Martha Stewart pushed her buttons like no one besides Eric seemed able to do.

"Pam, lay off, I mean it."

The petite blonde vampire laughed. "What are you gonna do about it, Princess? Hmmm? Shoot sunshine outta your ass? Bend over and let me kick it then, maybe that's what you need. A swift kick in the—"

"Seriously? I'm only a quarter fairy, maybe the powers just don't exist. Did you ever think of that?"

"No. I didn't. Because that's not how it works, sugar pop. Being Mated means being powerful. Why do you think it's such a big deal to find a Mate? Did you think it was just about the great sex?"

Sookie's mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me? Sex? You think that's all I'm interested in? I don't want your precious maker. I don't give two shits about Eric Northman."

"Do you know how many people would kill to be the Mate of Eric Northman? Do you?" Pam prowled the room. "You are so busy denying your attraction to him that you're sabotaging yourself with your ' _Poor me! I'm only a quarter fairy!'_ bullshit."

"I never asked for any of this," she seethed, almost at her breaking point.

"Who the fuck cares? Have you looked around you? You don't have a choice anymore little girl, you're either the fire or the consumed."

The mostly human fairy reached up and tugged her ponytail tighter. "Damn it, I wish I'd never agreed to Niall's ludicrous plan."

Pam stilled. "What plan?"

That certainly got her attention, but Sookie wasn't listening anymore. "I wish I were back home, sitting on my front porch swing, far from all this madness."

And poof! The next thing she knew, a breeze blew, whipping strands of blonde across her face.

"What the fuck? How did I get here?" The hard slats of the swing pushed against her bare legs as her head swiveled around taking in the yard around her grandmother's house.

Apparently she'd just learned to teleport. Looking at it objectively, she'd wanted desperately to be elsewhere, and that appeared to be enough.

She gathered herself together as she enjoyed the moonlight, the freedom. Pam took her job as Sookie's protector seriously, hardly letting her out of her sight.

 _She's probably freaking out right now._ The telepath smirked at the thought.

Unfortunately, it also meant that she'd have to call Pam for a ride back to the mansion. Unless she didn't. She hadn't seen Tara in months. Training with Pam required most of the time. Her fighting skills may have improved, but her friendship with Tara had suffered.

Climbing down off the porch, she reached behind the azalea bush to the stone that hid the spare key. Not the most unique of places, but she didn't much worry about a break-in out there. She let herself in and walked straight to the phone to call the one person she really needed to talk to right now.

Tara pulled into the drive half an hour later. Stepping out of the car and crossing the lawn, she leaned against the railing.

"What's up, Princess?"

"Been busy. Learning how to use a sword." Sookie swallowed, she desperately needed her best friend. She broke down, tears spilling over and cascading down her cheeks. "Tara, I'm so sorry. I really am."

"Oh hey, Sook, it's okay. Oh, come here." She felt herself wrapped by the woman who might as well be her sister. Once the blonde pulled herself together again, her friend continued. "Alright. Tell me everything from the beginning. We'll figure it out."

The words poured out of her. How she'd kept the secret for so long, she had no idea. But once she started, the whole story tumbled out.

Tara inhaled deeply after she'd finished. "So the David Bowie wannabe decided you were destined to tackle both the fae and vampire society. That's some faith if I ever heard it. Fucked up faith, for sure, but faith nonetheless."

"Too bad I didn't get a manual." Sookie laughed. "You think there is one?"

"If there isn't, there definitely should be." Tara squinted as if deep thought, "Chapter one: So you're a fairy princess, now what?"

"Chapter two: how to avoid your vampire mate's babysitter." Eric's red Corvette pulled down the driveway. Thirty seconds later, said babysitter stood in front of her. "Hi Pam, you remember Tara, right?"

Pam's perfectly manicured nails tapped her upper arms. "Alright, spill it Princess."

 _One Year  
Two Months  
Seventeen Days_

Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama met up in Montgomery, discussing plans of action for the assault on Columbia, SC. After Atlanta, the Moshup Clan had retreated northward, leaving Georgia and Florida under Amun control. Luckily there'd been little loss of civilian life since those nearest the line of demarcation had ample warning that war could reach them. Most people left and headed west, begging sanctuary, but some had no choice but to stay, no way to escape the line of fire.

All the houses they'd passed had been boarded up, though whether they were actually abandoned was anybody's guess. This war didn't even need to happen if the old world families hadn't refused to bring their Courts into the 21st century. The supernatural community couldn't continue as they had for hundreds of years: using, draining, and discarding the humans as if no more than refuse to be dragged away every Thursday. They all knew this. They'd discussed it at length during the talks about the Supernatural Divide.

At the time everyone had seemed on the same page, but using the little squabbles over territory as a distraction, the Moshup clan had kept a thriving underground human trade going for years. This couldn't be allowed to continue. The rest of the clans agreed when they heard of the extent of their crimes, and since Amun bordered Moshup it was determined they were the ones to deal with the threat. If Zeus and Narayana had to get involved, then the shit really had hit the fan. Atlanta had fallen easily enough; hopefully the war wouldn't drag on that long.

Eric focused on the battle ahead, knowing the sooner this war ended the sooner he could go home and make Sookie accept her position as his wife. She had to understand the depth of the bond between them. Having met her, Eric knew he could never replace her. Couldn't she feel it? Could she so easily push him away? He was awake at eleven in the morning for the first in a thousand years. No, he still couldn't venture outside in the daylight, but he regained some of the hours between sunrise and sunset. And Sookie was the reason. She had given him back something he thought he'd lost forever.

Shaking his head to clear the ridiculous notions that clattered inside him, he needed the fight. Needed to conquer his foe, not moon over some gorgeous blonde vixen who'd worked her way into his bloodstream. Literally, he thought as he waited through the passing morning hours hidden in the basement of an Augusta, Georgia hardware store. Each day since his time with Sookie he'd stayed awake for a little bit longer, sometimes only by a minute or two, sometimes by ten or fifteen minutes. Eventually, he would not need the rest at all.

The combined vampire armies took shelter below ground, while the fae forces fought topside. He hated being confined with the helpless vampires even if they did have a treaty with Moshup not to attack when the vampires were dead to the world. Trusting the word of the enemy was not something that came easy to Eric. Awake his body yearned for bloodshed, for the feeling of his sword. The way he came alive reminded him of his human days, days he only remembered when he sliced through the adversary.

He stared at the ceiling as he waited for his day death to claim him, picturing Sookie as she stood before him all defiance and pursed lips. He wanted the claim her the moment she opened her mouth to tell him off. But one did not just kiss a princess. At least not for a couple hours anyway, he thought back to the way her lips molded against his. His body grew needy for the feel of her again.

 _One Year  
Eleven Months  
Nine Days_

Sookie, Tara, Diantha, and Pam gathered on the wraparound sofa in the entertainment room, ancient texts piled on the coffee table before them. But no matter how much Sookie wanted to find an out from the preposterous coming marriage to Eric Northman, she felt the betrayal of searching for her loophole while he was off fighting a war; a much deadlier and brutal war than expected.

It continued far past the time anyone predicted. The combined fae and vampire Moshup forces had been craftier and far more willing to sacrifice than anyone initially imagined. The Amun army was working at a deficiency: namely their honor and integrity. They had guaranteed the human citizens in their territory safety. Therefore, they couldn't just destroy everything in their path as they attempted to repel the eastern states. Amun defeated Moshup in Atlanta and Columbia, before pushing the Amun army all the way back to Knoxville. There were days Sookie swore that the war would never end.

Worried about Eric, though she would never admit to the assembled company, Sookie aimlessly flipped pages of yet another dusty tome, the sixty-inch television turned to the Supernatural News Network that ran updates about the war. They never really learned anything from it, but it comforted the women nonetheless to know the little knowledge that seeped through. Desmond gave them more, but not enough to quell the barrage of questions that flowed out of her. She needed to know about the state of the army, she reasoned, not the state of a certain vampire turned Commander of the Louisiana fae and vampire forces.

Pam caught her zoning out. "He was born to this life, Sookie. Eric will return to you whole and unharmed, you shall see."

"I'm not worried about him, only the army as a whole. If your maker never stepped foot in front of me again, I would feel only relieved that I wouldn't have to read another of these boring books."

Fire flashed in the blonde vampire's eyes. "Be careful what you ask for, your uncle would auction you off to the highest bidder before you could pack your first suitcase."

"He wouldn't," she protested, but knew the truth. "Without my virginity, I'm of no use to him. Uncle Des would send me back home before he'd let me besmirch the honor of his court."

"You seem to forget that being Mated suits you, Sookie. Your powers grow in strength every day. Fae or vampire men would be happy to control such power. In that, the law is clear. The eldest male kin of a Mated female, fae or vampire, has a duty to said woman to secure a champion for her in the form of a husband, in the case of her Mate's untimely death. And believe me, there is no one who would tolerate your tongue save Eric Northman. So the best you can do is pray that he makes it home in one piece."

Sookie sank in on herself, pushing the _Fae/Vampire Accord of 1423_ off her lap. "This is a huge bunch of horseshit."

"I couldn't agree more." Pam's smile predatory, her teeth elongated, Sookie's stand-in Champion pressed on. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

Ever since she'd come clean about her mission for Niall to both Tara and Pam, the women had been stalwart supporters of Team Sookie. It occurred to the princess that she was being incredibly selfish, using all her time and intelligence to find a way out of her marriage to Eric, when she should've been trying to find a way to better the lives of the women the Courts controlled.

"Well, I don't suppose my Northman Problem really ranks in the grand scheme of things…and we do have all these books from before the menfolk took over. It'd be a shame not to double down on the research. I'm not saying I'm going to abandon all hope of a way out of the marriage, only that I might as well make good on that promise while I'm doing it."

Her best friend smirked. "It's about damn time, Sookie—no offense—but Eric isn't your only problem, or even your biggest problem."

Tara summarized it so neatly, making her path forward that much clearer.

Pam put it bluntly. "What honey cakes over there is saying is it's time to shit or get off the pot, young one. The world isn't getting any better sitting in your corner crying about how life isn't fair."

"I know life isn't fair, you pushy twat," Sookie snarked out. "If there's one thing I do know, it's that life isn't even remotely fair."

"Then start acting like it," Diantha stated. "More than your life hangs in the balance here. I might have been fine and untroubled by the blatant bullshit that runs rampant in the kingdom if you'd never pointed it out to me."

Sookie often wondered if she did the right thing talking to Diantha about her concerns. She figured it was only fair. Her dark-haired cousin had a right to know that she wasn't simply a silent broodmare for the supernatural community. She had a choice. Just because offspring were hard to come by didn't mean that the men had stopped using the women the same way they had for hundreds of years. It needed to change. Sitting on her ass worrying about a husband seemed trite indeed in the face of everything else.

Sookie sighed in resignation. "These books aren't going to read themselves, though I wish upon all that's holy that they would."

 _Two Years  
Three Months  
Twenty-Seven Days_

Eric stalked through the darkened streets of Columbus, OH, searching every open door or window for the hidden enemy. Movement from just behind him caused him to whip his body around, sword already slicing through the first vampire that thought to stand before him. Three more skulked from the shadows, one holding a small curly-haired child who whimpered almost inaudibly.

"Let the child go, he has nothing to do with this war." Eric shoved his anger down, focusing on the best way to disarm the enemy soldier standing before him.

The pale ginger-haired vamp laughed. "Cattle. All of them. The sooner you all realize this, the sooner the war can end. We are the sharks, they are the chum."

Eric stepped carefully forward. "There is no reason to continue killing the humans. What you Moshups forget is that there are far more of them than us. If they decided to rise up, we would be hard-pressed to defeat them for their sheer numbers."

This whole war was so shortsighted. Humans and Supes could peacefully coexist if both sides put their minds to it. The humans had seen the benefits to a supernaturally run government; three of the four mainland clans agreed. All but those on the east coast where most of the vampires and fae had originally settled when they left Europe with the first of the human pilgrims: they had been overruled.

For centuries, they'd lived in hiding, taking only the blood they needed. When a vampire stepped out of line, the older ones would take them firmly in hand. The danger of discovery was all too real during the time of witch-burnings. If humans had no problem burning women of their own species, what would they do to the "creatures" that plagued their nightmares?

Eric loved the 21st century, its technology and ease of travel. He loved being out in the open, not having to lurk in the shadows.

"You risk everything for something that would be given willingly." He took another silent step forward, planning.

Greasy soldier number two responded this time, his hand clumsy on the handgun he held outstretched before him. "We take what is by right ours. Superior beings do not wait for it to be given. I thought you were a great Viking warrior. Do you fear the mortals so much that you have turned coward?"

"Coward?" Eric scoffed. "Cowards are boys who use pistols playing against a man with a sword."

Ginger soldier argued, "Wooden bullets, dumbass."

"Go ahead, take your best shot. I warn though, you won't like the effect," Eric taunted. He needed to get the crying child out of harm's way. Cocky assholes one, two, and three just needed to make their move.

In the instant before the gun fired, Eric saw greasy-hair's trigger finger twitch. The other two soldiers followed suit. In less than a blink, he vamped behind them, removing two of their heads, stabbing ginger hair in the heart with his silver dagger, and swooping the boy out of the way. Shielding the child from the ashes of their demise, he felt the boy shiver in his grasp.

He slid his sword into the sheath on his back and lifted the shaking child into his arms.

"Where are your parents?" His dirt-streaked face gazed up at Eric in fear, tears hovering at the end of his lashes. He pressed the boys head against his shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "Shhh, I'm not here to hurt you. What's your name?"

Sniffing the boy answered quietly, "Jeremiah."

"Well Jeremiah, I'm Eric. If you can tell me where your parents are, I'll get you home. But we need to get you to safety."

A tiny arm rose and pointed to the right. The Viking moved assuredly in that direction, whispering reassurances in the Jeremiah's ear as the curly blonde-haired boy led him to his home. They were lucky not to run into any other enemy soldiers, but Eric would be much happier when the child was safe in the arms of his parents.

With their child's safe return, the boy's parents tried to pull Eric inside, but there was a war to be fought and only so many hours til sunrise. The destruction of the states the armies marched through had suffered so much already. This needed to end.

Considering greasy soldier's words, the vampire prowled through the streets looking for enemy holdouts. The supernatural community had existed for so long believing that might made right, that what could be seen could be taken. What he realized was, as he slunk past piles of rubble and boarded up houses, that the other three clans weren't much different.

No, they didn't sell the mortals on the black market, but the way they treated the women of the Courts wasn't much different. They just shined it up and said it was for their own good, their protection. Though Pam had influenced his thinking over the century they'd spent together, Eric realized that he hadn't cared what happened outside his own small world. He would never treat Pam in the manner of the supernatural community at large, but since his time with Sookie, he started considering that his inaction was as much a consensus as anything.


	5. Chapter 5

_Two Years  
Seven Months  
Three Days_

Eric's most recent bouquet sat on her vanity, bathed in the early light of dawn. Calla Lilies, Gardenias, and Tulips this time. Sookie had no idea how he arranged to have them delivered, but they showed up every couple weeks, sometimes accompanied by a hand-written letter, sometimes not. The letters never discussed any battles, but the small moments he experienced: saving a little boy; leading a group of teenage girls who thought it'd be fun to get as close to the front lines as possible back to the shelter; the first day he remained awake beyond sunrise.

Sookie never knew what to write back. Her days seemed frivolous by comparison. Still she wrote to him of arguing with Desmond for two hours just to allow Diantha to accompany her to Fangtasia one evening. She didn't admit to anyone she went there to be reminded of Eric.

His blonde Mate wrote about her sword lessons, her days spent combing through ancient texts written in olde English, the girls' night she, Tara, Diantha, and Pam shared, bingeing their way through series after series. Not knowing how wrong she was, she thought these things wouldn't matter to him.

If Sookie was being honest, she missed Eric. Exhausted, she pushed against the constraints of society, wanting nothing more than to feel his arms around her. Refusing to cry, she put down her pen and scrubbed against her eyes.

"My dearest granddaughter."

The blonde whipped around to see Niall sitting on her bed, one leg crossed calmly over the other. Jumping up and running over to throw her arms around him, she loved and hated him at the same time. She pulled away.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in over a year." The last time, had only been for him to join the Court at the Winter Solstice dinner, the usually joyous occasion a solemn affair. "I don't understand how you could just leave me here to face all of this alone."

Everything had been difficult since Eric went to war. She had to fight Desmond at every turn for any kind of freedom, always saying he protected her because he loved her. She'd had to remind him constantly that not only did she have Pam, but had learned to protect herself. Eventually her uncle caved, but not until long after Sookie thought she'd go mad if she didn't leave the mansion.

"You aren't alone, my child."

No, she wasn't, but it didn't change the fact that it felt like he'd abandoned her. "No, you just convinced me of the necessity of this mission of yours and then went back to the realm of Fairy, only visiting on holidays. You didn't even tell me what to expect."

Eyes the color of a summer sky studied her. "Would you have believed me if I told you even half of what you would experience?"

"You knew my future, you still do. You could share some of that info, Grandpa Dumbledore."

A perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose at the nickname. "Dumbledore…from the Harry Potter series. Yes, I find that fits." Sookie glared at him. Niall sighed. "Yes, I know your future. I even knew about Eric before he came into your life. But I couldn't tell you for fear of creating an alternate timeline."

"Oh, don't give me your butterfly in Asia shit—"

He interrupted, showing a flash of anger. "It isn't shit, young lady. You have no idea just what rides on this mission I sent you on. Knowledge of the future is a great responsibility. I can do nothing more than show up when you need me."

"But I've barely even seen you," Sookie's countered.

A small smile played across her great-grandfather lips. "You haven't needed me. You're doing much better than you think, dear one."

She hated looking for reassurance, but she couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

"Really, I promise." He reached out for her and she went willingly into his embrace. "I am here anytime you need me, child, I am always watching over you. You need to stay strong, there are darker days ahead of you."

Niall left shortly after, and the fairy princess did feel better for speaking to him. At least she knew now that he hadn't just thrown her to the wolves.

 _Two Years  
Eleven Months  
Twenty-Two Days_

The devastation of Pittsburgh sprawled out through the valley. Eric stood at the top of the Duquesne Incline overlooking the southern bank where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers merged with the Ohio, staring down at the three rivers, now blood red, the hillside on every side burnt and scarred beyond recognition. The Moshup army set detonations down the lines of every single bridge in the city, demolished in an attempt to keep Amun clan from crossing easily over the rivers. Once the city with the most bridges in the US, Pittsburgh was barely navigable now. Rebuilding would take years, if not decades. Eric scowled at the loss of life and buildings.

He could only pray the Liberty Tunnel remained unhindered, otherwise they'd have to travel south until they, hopefully, came to a bridge left standing. He'd send a team there tomorrow to check it out. From his vantage point, he could just discern the outline of Fort Duquesne. Remembering the commanding structure, he wished it'd still stood today. He'd been there, fighting on the side of the French, for General Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela. If the fort still stood, it would be the perfect place to house the army as it rebuilt the city.

He felt the pull of sunrise threatening, and although it no longer caused him to fall into his dreamless day death, its rays would still burn him and the wind would scatter his ashes to the four corners of the earth. He had too much to live for now. Turning away from the encroaching light, he vamped to the Sylvan Energy building with its UV protected glass that served as one of their barracks. The rest of the army clustered in the houses, restaurants, and even the elementary school along the edge of the hillside, left abandoned when the populace fled, the last remaining neighborhood in the once bustling city.

Everything else lay in ruins.

Without the Fort, Pittsburgh wasn't a city for a stronghold; it could only serve as an impediment for the oncoming army. Moshup cared nothing for the families it burned in their beds. Reports of battles fought in Charleston, Charlotte, and Atlanta, were nothing compared to the destruction of the retreating army.

Over the following days as the convoy picked its way through the Pennsylvania countryside, they passed too many towns laid to waste. The highways clogged with abandoned vehicles, the Amun army watched as streams of humans traveled west, belongings dragged behind them in red wagons, pushed in wheelbarrows, and carried in backpacks. It would take all of the clans, as well as humans, uniting to rebuild once the war ended.

When the Moshup clan could run no more, they stopped and faced off in Harrisburg. The all but beaten enemy used the remains of slaughtered mortals, and the charred timber of the once beautiful townhouses that lined the east side of the Susquehanna River, to build barricades against the oncoming army. Once again, they bombed the bridges that connected the western Harrisburg suburb to the city proper. It only enraged the fae and vampires of Amun more.

Eric led the charge of thousands as they crossed the shallow river, surging into the urban historic neighborhood. They pushed over the boundaries, and chased the enemy through the potholed streets past boarded up houses. Second Street, once a bastion of nightlife, in the end, turned into a smoldering ruin. Bodies of the citizens who once resided there lay forgotten in the streets. These people deserved burials, not to be picked over by the circling vultures and ravens.

The battle lasted another three weeks, while they searched through alleys and abandoned houses and businesses in search of the remaining army. At last, on May 7th, 2015, the Moshup clan finally admitted defeat. They would meet on May 15th in the city of Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love, to sign the Supernatural Treaty of 2015. There their territory would be divided up amongst those of the Moshup clan who'd stayed loyal to the Supernatural Divide and those of other clans willing to relocate and help the East rebuild.

Eric might have been willing to relocate three years and two weeks earlier, but he had a reason now to return to Louisiana.

 _May 11_ _th_ _, 2015_

The war ended four days earlier and they expected the troops to arrive any time now. Sookie waited every night for Eric's return. She still didn't want to marry him, but she needed to know he was safe and unharmed. In the small hours of the night, she heard the rumble of vehicles and the sounds of the mansion coming to life. Pulling down the blackout shades she'd installed in her room, the blonde rushed out into the night.

Headlights blinded her as they pulled into the circular drive until one by one, the engines shut off and fae and vampires alike exited the vehicles. The dead already accounted for; it was the living who searched the disembarking soldiers. Relatives, lovers, and makers embraced, joy suffusing the air intermingled with a palpable feeling of absolute relief.

Sookie waited, unable to move for fear that no one had told her he died. Worried, she fidgeted when all of the vehicles finally emptied and she still stood alone outside in the dark while the celebration started within.

 _Where was he?_ Eric Northman's Mate's heart began to shatter. She felt Pam's hand slip into her right and Diantha take her left.

"He is coming." An infinitesimal squeeze came from her left.

Sookie wanted to believe anything right now. "How do you know?"

Pam actually smiled at her. "I would know if he'd gone to his final death. And though he would consider it a good death, he is a Viking at heart after all, he still lives."

Scrubbing at her eyes, she looked up when she heard the rumble of one last engine.

An old black Trans-Am barreled its way down the driveway. Screaming to a stop, Sookie heard the scattering of pebbles and dirt and she went running. She didn't care that she didn't want to marry the arrogant vampire. Nothing mattered but that she could touch him for herself and know he'd come back to her.

Eric tore out of the car and swept her up, his glacial eyes drinking her in before his lips claimed hers. She'd never felt more like coming home than she did right then, safe and protected in his strong arms.

 _May 12_ _th_ _, 2015_

Eric and Sookie sat on the terrace, across the round cafe table from one another. Trees towered around them, moonlight streaming through the leaves. With the soldiers leaving again the next day, the troops grabbed a moment to breathe. Last night the celebration felt stifled, as if the past wrapped itself around them like an overcoat in July. Tonight they clung to each other, the world outside kept at bay by the comfort.

The vampire and the fairy princess spoke little. He sipped absently as she picked at the food in front of her. Trying to sneak glimpses when she thought he wouldn't notice, garnered her nothing, his face a mask frozen in marble.

She broke the silence. "Thank you for the flowers."

"You're welcome," he said, glancing at her and away again. "They each had meaning."

Wanting to reach out to him, she held herself back. "I know. I looked them up."

Each flower had been a love letter in itself. Gladiolus: faithfulness, honor, remembrance. Gardenias: secret love, joy. Heather: solitude and beauty, protection. Sookie saved a bloom from each, collected in a wicker basket on the side table of her bed.

The quiet fell over them again. They'd spent the day together, carefully avoiding any real conversation while she demonstrated her powers to Eric, all except the ability to create sunlight: a great ability to control except in the case where you don't wish to obliterate your vampire ally as well as enemy. It appeared both the vampires and the fae retained one defense against the other. Death by draining or sunlight, though both could create ecstasy in the final moments of a life.

Eric broke the silence this time. "We will start on your training when I return."

"You'll be going back then?" Sookie asked, hoping he'd take Sophie Ann up on her offer to let him remain with his Mate.

"Yes. I must. Much work needs done, especially in Pennsylvania."

"Of course." His honor would allow nothing less. "I wish I could go with you, you know, to aid in the clean-up."

"Never. I won't allow it." His voice harsh, his eyes met hers. Intensity raged there. "There are things in this world you should not witness."

Her mouth set in a grim line, she tried to gentle her reply. "It's not a matter of allow, but I understand your reasoning, though I think I could handle it. I'm stronger than you give me credit."

"It's not your strength I worry about, but that you shouldn't have to see it. Sookie, there are atrocities that I—" his voice faltered, strangled by constrained emotion. "I would keep those visions from you."

Eric's Mate did reach over to him then. "I'll miss you." He relaxed his hand, allowing her fingertips to trace his calluses.

"I've arranged our wedding for tomorrow eve, before I return."

Her fingers stilled. "What do you mean?"

He pulled back, his arms crossing over his broad chest. "We will be married tomorrow night, before I leave you again. Desmond agreed."

"But I didn't." She wanted to cry, didn't want him to force the issue. There was something between them, but it was fragile. Any emotion he might have shown fled at her statement. Pieces of her felt like they shattered.

"You are my Mate." He studied her. "You came to me last night."

Her voice came out small, "Yes." She'd needed to feel him, to know he was alive.

"Then why do you resist?"

The crickets serenaded the breaking of her heart. "I don't want to marry you just because of some cosmic Cupid. I refuse to be tamed and by assuming my answer about our wedding, you disregarded my opinion. I can't live like that. I won't."

Eric picked up his glass; finishing it and setting it back down as if it were a priceless antique.

"You need to let go of these human reactions. Now that your powers have manifested, we have centuries ahead of us to figure this out." He gestured between them then let his hand fall back on the table. "I will not be rebuffed again, Sookie."

Her blood iced over in fear. She didn't want to lose him, but in capitulating, she risked who Sookie Stackhouse was at heart. "Please, don't push this, Eric. I want to know what this is between us as well. But you forget, I lived as a human for most of my life, those reactions are me. They cannot be swept under the rug. I can't commit to someone I barely know. Don't ask me to. Please," she added reaching out to touch him, but Eric retreated once more.

"I won't ask again."

Sookie could feel the truth in his words. Sitting up straighter, "I understand."

The vampire burst up from his seat, glaring down at her. He sped down to the center of the lawn, encircled by trees and the glow of torchlight, he never seemed more like the thousand year old Viking.

"Don't do this," she pleaded, knowing he could still hear her from where he stood motionless. Minutes passed like hours as he stared at her.

Then, before she could blink, he had her in his arms, his mouth insistent, searching for answers she couldn't give. Their lips dueled like their hearts, needy and desperate, but unwilling to cede the battlefield. Their kiss steeped in the years apart; in what Eric had seen, and how Sookie changed.

They both knew when it ended that a breach cracked open between them.

"I'm taking Pam," were the last words he said as he fled from her.

"Goodbye, Eric," she whispered to the empty space, carried away by the wind.


End file.
